A Father’s Choice: The morality of a King’s decision to choose an alphabet over his son

In episode 15 of Tree with Deep Roots, King Sejong is faced with the difficult decision of sacrificing his son for the sake of the new Hangul alphabet. I contest that by refusing to act with violence against his son’s kidnappers, he both effectively handles the situation with moral righteousness.

As King Sejong addresses Pyung, he begins with an enraged attack exclaiming, “If you touch the Prince or So-yi, every member of my military I will call to arms, and will sweep all of you around the village market in front of the people. We will display all of your dead bodies. Those dead bodies will be ripped to pieces and sent all over the country,” (Tree with Deep Roots ep. 15). However, Sejong then quickly breaks down in front of Pyung sobbing, “Please……